things I think about while reading Abu-Lughod talking about Chicago

Much reference in ch 3 of rioters wanting to “disrupt the normal routine” – in the 1990s I was a member of ACT UP in San Francisco & then in Philly. (The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power – we were bad ass. Look us up if you’ve not heard of us.) One common chant as we pressured pharmaceutical companies was: No more business as usual, AIDS won’t wait. It was not about “boredom” — one way to interpret the need for disruption, for a world outside of normalcy. Instead, it is a sense that life/death matters are at stake – that we/society should not keep operating as though nothing were wrong. That’s what I feel when reading Abu-Lughod talk about these high school students not wanting schools and businesses to carry on as normal – nothing normal after King was murdered. (See this interview for some ACT UP context: http://https://www.linktv.org/shows/link-voices/aids-activist-reflects-on-his-life-changing-act-up-experience